The invention relates to a dental abrading body for treating tooth crowding. This abrading body can be introduced into the interdental spaces between the teeth. It is provided with opposite abrading or working surfaces on both sides thereof and with a connecting member for attachment to a reciprocating drive mechanism.
One treatment method for tooth crowding is to eliminate tooth rotations by means of a fixed or a removable apparatus. In this case, however, the recurrence rate is relatively high.
It is also known in the art to use a dental abrading body, which is introduced horizontally into the interdental spaces, i.e. perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction of the teeth, in order to remove tooth substance in the interdental contact area through a horizontal abrasion movement. This creates space between the teeth. Drawbacks of using these prior art dental abrading bodies include the fact that the horizontal abrasion movement is uncomfortable or painful for the patient, and the fact that that this method only allows flat abrasion surfaces to be created.
An object of the invention is to provide an improved dental abrading body for treating tooth crowding.
Another object is to provide a dental abrading body which can be used prophylactically to produce contact and position stability of the teeth.
A further object of the invention is to provide a dental abrading body which can produce an anti-rotational interlock between adjacent teeth.
These and other objects have been achieved in accordance with the present invention by providing a dental abrading body which can be introduced into interdental spaces for treating tooth crowding, the abrading body being provided with first and second working surfaces on opposite sides thereof and having a connector for attachment to a reciprocating drive mechanism, and in which dental abrading body can be introduced vertically between the teeth and is designed for vertical abrasion movements; one working surface of the abrading body has a convex cross-sectional shape having a radius of curvature R3, and the other working surface has a concave cross-sectional shape having a radius of curvature R2; and the radius of curvature of the convex working surface is greater than the radius of curvature of the concave working surface.
The dental abrading body according to the invention can be introduced vertically between the teeth, i.e. in their longitudinal direction, and it is designed for use with vertical abrasion movements. One of the abrading or working surfaces has a convex cross-sectional shape, and the opposite abrading or working surface has a concave cross-sectional shape. The radius of the convexly curved working surface is greater than the radius of the concavely curved working surface.
In a natural set of teeth, the teeth contact one another with convex surfaces. Thus, for natural teeth, the interdental contact can be represented by a dimeric link chain. The drawback is that such a straight dimeric link chain is unstable, which causes the teeth to rotate in relation to one another if the available space in the dental arch is not sufficient.
The inventive dental abrading body makes it possible to produce a favorable interdental contact in the form of an overlapping dimeric arcuate chain of teeth. The convex working surface of the dental abrading body forms a concave contact surface in the contact area of the one tooth. At the same time, as a rule, the concave working surface of the dental abrading body adapts the radius of the existing convex contact surface of the adjacent contact tooth to the concave contact surface. Preferably, the concave contact surface is formed with a larger radius of curvature than the convex contact surface.
However, with a non-abrasive embodiment of the concave working surface of the dental abrading body, it is also possible to use the convex tooth surface only as a guide surface for the abrading body, so that the convex contact surface of the tooth, if it fits, is maintained in its natural state.
The overlapping dimeric arcuate chain of teeth, which is created by shaping the concave and convex contact surfaces in the interdental area, is distinguished by excellent pressure stability due to the interlocking or form-fit engagement of the contact surfaces. As a result, the contact and position stability of the adjacent teeth is enhanced. After correction of misaligned tooth positions, this stability guards against recurrence and prevents or reduces tertiary crowding.
A further advantage of treatment with the inventive dental abrading body is that only a minimum amount of the approximal enamel has to be removed along the contact surfaces of the teeth to obtain physical stability for each contact, i.e., for instance, in the anterior dental arch. The space obtained as a result is 0.25 to 0.35 mm per contact surface. The artificial concave-convex abrasions, which are being created alter the contacts to form a stable overlapping dimeric chain of teeth. In addition, a vertical abrasion movement is less painful for a patient than a horizontal abrasion movement.
Preferably, both abrading or working surfaces of the dental abrading body are coated with diamond abrasive to permit simultaneous precise shaping of the corresponding concave and convex contact surfaces on the teeth in the interdental area. Alternatively, if the natural convex curvature of the contact surface of a tooth can be retained without treatment, only the convex working surface of the dental abrading body for shaping the concave contact surface is diamond-coated.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment, the front edge of the dental abrading body is not diamond-coated to make it easier to introduce it between the teeth. For the same reason, it may be advantageous to taper the front edge of the dental abrading body.